Danny in a Newfangled World

Puppy vs. Video Games

// August 20th, 2010 // Books

Okay – I finally did it!  I succumbed to the pressure of my children and bought a puppy.  What can I say?  I empathize with their need to have a floppy eared canine.  When I was a child, I invested countless hours begging and pleading with my parents to let me have a puppy, only to hear one ‘no’ after another.  How could I do that to my own kids? 

Now a little more truth… I was hoping that the puppy (who we named Daisy) would also provide some distraction from their desire to play wii and DS Nintendo.  What mother wouldn’t prefer to see her boys cavorting with a cute puppy than arguing over whose turn it is to play Super Mario Galaxy?  The boys have, thankfully, shown an astounding amount of responsibility toward their new puppy duty.  They help walk her, feed her, take her outside, and of course, they love to cuddle with her. 

But do the boys play less video games (or more specifically, ask to play less often)?  Well, the answer is yes.  They are spending more time outside with Daisy.  So I can claim a little victory in that regard.  Most importantly, though, is the joy they get from the company of their new pooch.   Just don’t ask them to pick up dog poop – that’ll start an argument.